


Our courage will pull us through

by unacaritafeliz



Series: The very best (Pokémon AU) [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Dex is in love with Nursey he just doesn't know it yet, Gen, I know I use that tag a lot but this time I mean it, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24251977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unacaritafeliz/pseuds/unacaritafeliz
Summary: Dex glances over his shoulder at the sound of his name and finds Drowzee standing in the kitchen doorway, looking warm and adorable, with Nursey's favourite green beanie pulled over her ears."Hey, Drowzee!" Dex says, smiling at her. "Do you want to help me with this pie?"[Dex realises he doesn't want to say goodbye to Nursey...'s sweet baby Drowzee]
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: The very best (Pokémon AU) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749160
Comments: 9
Kudos: 85





	Our courage will pull us through

**Author's Note:**

> Whenever I write NurseyDex, I always want to include Growlithe and Drowzee - not for any plot based reasons, just because I want them to hang out. So I thought it was maybe time to update the Pokemon AU.
> 
> This happens over a year after the last installment, in the middle of the Frogs' senior year.

Dex has barely opened the basement door when Growlithe sneaks between his legs and streaks up the stairs, disappearing on the second floor landing. There's no doubt that he's heading to Nursey's room for a second afternoon nap, and Dex smiles fondly at the thought. It's been a long time since he's been jealous of how much time Growlithe chooses to spend with Nursey - now he's just glad that Growlithe has other people to be with when Dex is too full of energy to relax.

Dex stretches his arms out as he heads into the kitchen, ready to bake whatever the Haus still has the ingredients for. He, optimistically, turns the oven on and opens the fridge, squatting down to better see what's behind. There on the bottom shelf, behind a fuckton of butter and the six pack of the douchey beer Whiskey drinks, is a large, fresh stalk of rhubarb, and Dex pulls it into his arms with a grin. Nursey was TA-ing his challenging Intro to Poetry seminar early this afternoon, the one with the awful Chad who can't follow instructions. A fresh rhubarb pie may be just the pick-me-up his linemate needs.

"Drowz!" says a quiet voice from behind him.

Dex glances over his shoulder at the sound of his name and finds Drowzee standing in the kitchen doorway, looking warm and adorable, with Nursey's favourite green beanie pulled over her ears.

"Hey, Drowzee!" Dex says, smiling at her. "Do you want to help me with this pie?"

"Drowzee!" she agrees happily.

Dex's heart, already completely soft for her, fills with affection as Drowzee toddles up to him, raising her arms in a wordless demand to be picked up. Dex shifts the rhubarb into the crook of his elbow so that he can lift Drowzee with both hands. She shrieks with laughter and Dex can't help but grin as he closes the fridge with his foot and carries her over to sit at her high-chair next to the counter.

"We're making Nursey's favourite today," Dex says, putting the rhubarb down onto the table. Drowzee applauds softly, obviously delighted. "Why don't you do the pastry?"

Drowzee shakes her head, and points at the rhubarb stalk Dex is holding. "Drowzee!" she says.

Dex winces. Drowzee loves chopping, slicing and dicing, absolutely insists on doing it every time she helps anyone in the kitchen. Dex always tries to persuade her to do something less dangerous, even if he knows she won't listen to him. He worries enough when Nursey holds a knife, seeing a toddler like Drowzee with one concerns him beyond belief.

"Drowzee..." he starts, firmly.

"Drowzee!" Drowzee repeats, insistently pointing at the rhubarb.

Dex sighs. Drowzee's really stubborn when she wants to be. Dex supposes she should be, considering her trainer is the most stubborn person on the face of the planet.

"Okay, fine," Dex relents, putting the rhubarb down in front of her. He grabs a chopping board and her special knife from the top drawer and places it next to her. "But be careful, okay?"

"Drowzee," she agrees. She saws the knife back and forth, slowly chopping the leaves off the rhubarb.

Dex watches her for a moment, letting a comfortable silence wash over the kitchen. Drowzee's a slow chopper, but she's methodical, and Dex knows she'll slice the rhubarb into perfectly even pieces, ready for cooking. He doesn't really care how slow she is, as long as she has all her fingers when she's done and, besides, it's not like he's in any rush for the filling to be done considering he hasn't even started with the dough. With one last glance at Drowzee's tiny fingers, Dex turns to start on his pastry dough.

It had become something of a tradition, Dex and Drowzee baking a pie together on Friday afternoons while Nursey and Growlithe nap together upstairs. Sometimes, when he's around, Whiskey's Machoke will join them, quietly helping with the pastry, and shyly flushing with every compliment he's given. More often than not though, it's just Dex and Drowzee.

They don't usually talk very much, but Dex doesn't mind. For him, baking isn't a social activity, it's a moment for introspection, for relaxing, for letting the tension that lives in his shoulders leave through his hands into the pastry. And, besides, he genuinely likes spending time with Drowzee, even when she's not saying anything. She's a comforting presence, the kind of chill Nursey could only dream of being, and she carved a permanent space for herself in Dex's heart so quickly and easily that he was powerless to stop her. Dex has met a lot of great Pokemon in his life, especially since he's been at Samwell, but he's never bonded with someone else's Pokemon the way he has with Drowzee.

Dex glances over at her, heart swelling with affection at the focused look she has on her face. He doesn't ever want to give up their Friday afternoon baking, never wants to spend a single day of his life without both Drowzee and Growlithe by his side, which is kind of problematic since they'll all be moving out of the Haus at the end of the school year and Drowzee will be going with Nursey.

"Drowz!" Drowzee calls, pulling Dex from his thoughts. When Dex looks up, she's holding up her bowl of chopped rhubarb triumphantly in both hands, a proud and pleased expression on her face.

"That looks great, Drowzee!" Dex praises. Drowzee beams at him, and Dex feels warm all over. "Can you mix the filling for me while I roll out the crust?"

Drowzee nods grabs the sugar and flour off the countertop, measuring out the right quantities without needing to be told. Dex smiles, proud of how smart she is as he pulls the cinnamon off the spice rack and hands it to her. She grabs the wooden spoon and starts stirring, stepping up onto her tiptoes to reach the bowl.

Dex flours the kitchen counter and dumps the dough onto it, beginning to roll it into two neat and even circles. It wouldn't be the worst thing, Dex thinks, if he and Growlithe ended up wherever Nursey and Drowzee plan to be next year. Dex's only post-graduation plan is 'not Maine' and, for all that he and Nursey are terrible roommates, they've been making it work as Hausmates decently enough. Growlithe obviously adores him too, in a way Dex has never seen Growlithe care about anyone except Siobhan and himself. And it would allow Dex to stay close to Drowzee, which may be all that really matters.

It's definitely something worth considering.

"Drowzee!" Drowzee sings, holding up her bowl.

"Nice work!" Dex tells her. He rolls the bottom pie crust onto his rolling pin and drapes it into the pan, less elegantly than Bitty or his Mr. Mime would have, but neatly all the same. "Can you pour the filling in?"

The bowl is too big for Drowzee to lift on her own, so Dex helps her to pour the filling on top of the pie crust. He puts some butter on top of the filling, and lays upper the pastry crust neatly over the top. Drowzee tries to help him to push the top crust down; she doesn't do very much, but it's the thought that counts.

"Well, what do you think?" Dex asks, slashing eight vents neatly into the top of the pie.

"Drowzee!" Drowzee shrieks, clapping her hands together happily.

Dex laughs, and turns to put the pie in the oven. He slides it onto the second rack and adjusts the temperature, making sure to set Betsy II's inbuilt timer to exactly thirty minutes.

"Drow-zee!!" Drowzee happily exclaims from behind him, in the exact same way that Farrah Nurse exclaims 'Baby!!' when she greets her little brother. Dex barely has enough time to process what she means when...

"Hey, baby girl," Nursey says, his voice deep and rough with sleep. Dex turns around in time to see Nursey drop a kiss on the beanie on top of Drowzee's head. He's wearing one of Holster's old sweaters, in almost the exact same shade of green as his eyes. "You helping Dex with his pie?"

"Drowzee!" Drowzee agrees, as Growlithe runs across the kitchen to wind himself around Dex's legs.

"She was very helpful," Dex says, dropping down to scratch his fingers into the puff of hair on top of Growlithe's head. Growlithe pushes at his leg until he flops down, cross-legged, in front of the oven and lets Growlithe flop into his lap. "She cut the rhubarb up perfectly."

"Chill!" Nursey exclaims, excitedly. "Y'all made rhubarb?!"

Dex bites back his grin at Nursey's obvious excitement. "Yeah," Dex says, with a shrug. "There was some in the fridge," he says.

Nursey grins, and picks Drowzee up off the counter, placing her on his hip like the toddler she is. He walks over to Dex and sits down in front of him, moving Drowzee so she's sitting comfortably in his lap.

"Yo," Nursey says.

"Yo," Dex echoes.

This has become a Friday tradition as well, the two of them sitting in the kitchen with their Pokemon, waiting for a pie to finish and catching up. The exact location varies, as well as what type of pie is being baked and whose Pokemon is in whose lap, but it's always happens and it's always just the two of them. With their busy senior year schedules, it's one of the only times they have together where someone isn't working or playing hockey and, although he will never admit it out loud, it's quickly become one of Dex's favourite parts for the week.

"Thanks for the pie," Nursey says, eyes on Dex as he scratches absentmindedly along the back of Drowzee's neck. "I could really use it after this afternoons class."

"Chad being an asshole again?" Dex asks.

"Chyeah," Nursey says, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Ugh, I don't even want to talk about it. How was your day, did you end up getting your assignment done?"

Dex groans. Nursey had found him in the Haus kitchen at midnight two nights ago, frustrated at his piece of shit code which wouldn't work, no matter what he did. Nursey had made Dex tea, and helped rubber-duck for a little while before he had to get some sleep for his seminar the next morning. He'd left Drowzee downstairs to make sure Dex got a little sleep at least.

It had been pretty nice of him, actually.

"I showed it to Tango and Porygon last night," Dex says. "They fixed it in, like, two minutes flat."

Nursey laughs. "Upside to having a friend literally made out of computer code," he says.

"Yeah," Dex agrees. "But doesn't really help much when Porygon won't be around forever."

"Eh," says Nursey. "I bet Growlithe could still learn to code. Isn't that right, buddy?"

"Growlithe," Growlithe agrees softly, as Nursey leans forward to touch his fingers to the top of Growlithe's head. Growlithe shifts in Dex's arms to press his head more firmly against Nursey's hand.

Dex gazes down at the pleased expression on Growlithe's face, remembering his earlier thoughts about what would happen after graduation. It's still early days, but Dex does have to actually start applying for graduate positions now if he wants to get anything good - which means that, if he's serious about this, he's going to have to actually ask Nursey about what his plans after graduation are.

Nursey's going to chirp him to hell and back.

It might still be worth it.

"Hey Nurse," says Dex, carefully, "Have you decided what you're going to do next year?"

"I'm moving back to New York," Nursey says, leaning back on his hands. If he's surprised by Dex's subject change, he doesn't show it. "I've got a job lined up with the publishing house I've interned at for the last few summers. Plus it'll be nice to be near my family again."

Dex nods. He kind of figured that Nursey would want to move back home - from what Dex understands Nursey's got four parents, two grandparents four siblings, and a hell of a lot of Pokemon waiting for him back in New York City. He's a bit surprised that Nursey already has a job lined up, but he supposes it makes sense. For all of his supposed 'chill', Nursey definitely always has things planned out when they matter.

"What about you, Poindexter?" Nursey asks. "Back to Maine?"

"No," says Dex, quietly, feeling like his heart has been cracked open for display. "Going to Maine would feel like taking a massive step backwards. And Growlithe hates all the Krabbys there anyway."

"Okay, fair," says Nursey, seriously. "So, maybe a city somewhere? Boston? Providence?"

Dex takes a deep breath in. "What do you think about New York?"

Nursey's eyes go wide. Dex watches, barely breathing, as Nursey opens his mouth, shuts it and opens it again. Dex has never seen Nursey so speechless.

"I..." Nursey starts, frowning. "You'd wanna come to New York with me?"

"Actually, I want to come to New York with her," Dex admits, leaning forward to tickle the top of Drowzee's nose.

"Ah, I see," says Nursey, nodding. "You only like me for my Pokemon."

"Well, duh," says Dex. "Drowzee's great. I don't want my friendship with her to end when we graduate."

He'd rather die than admit it, but Dex doesn't want his friendship with Nursey to end when they graduate either, not now that they've finally worked out how to actually enjoy spending time around each other.

"Well, in that case," Nursey says, "I think it'd be really fun if you came to New York with us, Will."

There's something about Nursey's use of his first name that catches Dex off guard, makes the breath catch in his throat in surprise. Nursey is looking at him, so earnestly that it makes Dex feel vulnerable. There's an expression in Nursey's eyes that Dex can't quite name yet.

The kitchen door creeks open and Dex looks over to see Foxtrot's Gengar shuffling in, their ever present unsettling grin firmly perched on their face. Dex can't say he's used to Gengar being around, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit afraid of that smile, but he loves Foxtrot enough to love her Pokemon unconditionally anyway.

"Hey, bud," says Nursey, over his shoulder as Gengar shuffles towards them. "Foxy send you down to see if there's food?"

"Gengar!" Gengar says. They stop behind Nursey and places both their large hands on Nursey's shoulders in greeting. Drowzee shrieks in delight.

"Okay, okay," Nursey laughs, reaching up to rest his hands on top of Gengar's. "I'll get started on dinner."

"Gengar?" Gengar asks, looking down at Drowzee.

"You wanna help me with dinner, baby?" Nursey asks Drowzee, softly stroking the skin at the back of her neck. "Or do you wanna go hang out with Gengar and Foxy for a bit?"

"Drowzee!" Drowzee says, climbing up Nursey's body to his shoulder, climbing on top of Gengar's hands. She presses her face against Nursey's cheek, before running up Gengar's arm to setting on their shoulder. Gengar shuffles out of the room and, after a moment, Growlithe licks Dex's hand and follows

"Traitor," says Nursey, with a smile. He pulls his phone from his pocket and taps at the screen, no doubt telling Foxtrot when dinner will be ready. When he looks back up at Dex, the look from earlier is gone. "You wanna help me with dinner, Poindexter? I'll help you wash up?"

It's not a fair trade, not even close to one, but Dex supposes it'd be nice to spend time with Nursey. He can't remember the last time the two of them have been completely alone, without Chowder or either of their Pokemon to buffer them.

It's probably good training for New York, too.

"Sure," says Dex. He gets to his feet and holds a hand out for Nursey. "What are we making?"

**Author's Note:**

> Imagine being _this_ in love with someone and not realising it. Poindexter truly is the most brainwashed of them all.
> 
> The next installment will take place after the Frogs graduate, and either:  
> a) finally include C ('Zee!!!!' as Drowzee calls him) and his posse of huge, badass, and unbelievably sweet water-type Pokemon,  
> b) focus on Dex and Growlithe moving to New York after graduation to live with Nursey and his family of adorable psychic-type Pokemon and Dex finally realising he's been high-key in love with Derek Nurse for a while now,  
> c) be a side-story about how Machoke, Porygon, and Gengar conspire to get Whiskey, Tango, and Foxtrot together in their senior year  
> d) never exist  
> All are equally likely.


End file.
